SpideyInOrder

Join me on my mission to read and review every single appearance of Spider-Man in the mainline Marvel comics! READ IN ORDER: https://spideyinorder.tumblr.com/tagged/sio/chrono

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Welcome to SpideyInOrder!

Hey there, True Believers! My name is Conor and welcome to my first ever blog!

(technically I made a blog back in my high school BCIS class for a project but I don't think that really counts)

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As I'm sure many of you are as well, I've been a Spider-Man fan for as long as I can remember. I grew up with the Tobey Maguire movies, played Spider-Man for the PS1 more times than I could count, wore Spider-Man pajamas daily, and yes - I even read the comics! After all this time, I still love Spider-Man and experiencing everything surrounding the character.

When I was a kid, my parents subscribed to the Spider-Man collectible series - a reprinting of the original Lee/Ditko run where each issue was split into 2 parts and sent to us every couple weeks. This was my first exposure to the Spider-Man comics and I was enraptured.

The comics ended with #24 (which was really just the second half of ASM #11) and I thought that was the end of the classic Spidey comics. This was until I bought those huge black and white "Essential" collections and found out the series went to ASM #50 and beyond!

Imagine my FURTHER surprise when after a quick Google search at the time revealed that Spidey had over 600 issues - and now we're getting close to 1,000??

INSANE!

Even more so, a couple years ago I wanted to read all the Spider-Man comics in order from Amazing Fantasy #15 to the newest release. I found a website called The Complete Marvel Reading Order that showed me all of Spidey's appearances in comics, took a look at the total amount and-

...

oh my god...

By the way, I found out that this isn't even his appearance in different timelines or universes or stuff like that. This is ONLY CANON 616 MARVEL UNIVERSE APPEARANCES!

I know it would be easier to only read through the 1,000 or so mainline Spider-Man run issues, but due to the interweaving nature of Marvel comics, I feel like picking and choosing would be disingenuous. I won't be doing every single one of Spidey’s appearances ever, though - just main 616. I love the Ultimate runs and other spin offs, but I am only one man and I care for my health and well-being.

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And so, after all of that fluff, I begin my journey in reading, reviewing, commentating, and enjoying every appearance of Spider-Man in Marvel comics.

We'll be going through everything from ASM to Avengers, Secret Wars to Spider-Geddon, classic Ditko to modern McGuinness! It’s gonna be one hell of a ride!

It'll likely take me years (about 12 and a half years if I do one issue a day), but I think it'll be cool to slowly add to this blog over time - to see not just how the comics changed, but how I'll change.

I hope you all will come along and enjoy this adventure with me! Feel free to post your thoughts and opinions in the comments or in the AMA!

Here's to a fun time! Keep it sticky!🕸️

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Aside from the wacky way Kirby drew Spidey, this is some pretty solid characterization for our favorite guy!

Self depricating comments gives Spidey a fun chip on his shoulder - further cementing the idea that even though the other heroes see him as a good guy, he's not a fun guy to be around (at least right now).

Aaaaaand that's all we see of Spider-Man this issue!

All that happens is the Avengers find and fight Hulk, he runs away and fights Namor, then they team up to fight the Avengers before Hulk turns back into Banner and runs off.

Spidey's really just here for a quick cameo - and that's okay! It wasn't even his book to begin with!

As we get further into our journey, we'll probably encounter a lot more instances where Spidey's only in the background for a little bit, but I think they're gonna be nice breaks from the longer "deep dives" we make with the Spidey exclusive stories.

Also! We're gonna see Electro next! Yippee!

Progress: 16/4616

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Holy SHIT, Spidey! Enough with the webbing!! Those guys are struggling to BREATHE!!!

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Since we're only following Spidey's perspective of the events in the Marvel universe, we get the opportunity to drop in on what other heroes are doing at random points on their own journeys! And it looks like the Avengers are looking for the Hulk since he quit their team last issue (man, he was only there for 2 issues before quitting?)

In order to find where he is, Iron Man... uh...

...beams himself...? to other heroes asking if they've seen the Hulk anywhere.

He visits the Baxter Building to check with the FF (I really can't escape these guys, huh?), and soon after finds Spidey!

We've got Jack Kirby drawing the ol' webslinger again and he looks alright here! I especially love the perspective we've got going on.

After looking at the drawing for a bit, though, it looks like we're looking down at the ground instead of up at the sky. The cars on the road are dead giveaways, but the way Spidey's webbing up the criminals make it look like they should be hanging downwards. I'm probably overthinking this way too much...

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16. The Avengers #3

Continuing Spidey's stories in 1964, we've got the third issue of The Avengers! Waaaaay later down the line, Spidey's actually gonna become one of the greatest members of this team, so it'll be cool to see his first exposure to these guys!

I don't think the Avengers have even been referenced in Spidey's comics before? The most I can remember is the Fanastic Four (of course) and Ant Man.

This is gonna be a little different compared to other issues we've gone over, though, because it doesn't look like Spider-Man is actually gonna show up a ton here. This is an Avengers comic, after all, so unless the story is more of a team up WITH Spidey, these kinds of issues are probably gonna have him relegated to more of a cameo role.

We'll see how it goes once we get into the story more, but if a story isn't really Spidey focused or Spidey adjacent, I'm honestly not gonna write much about it. Non-Spidey topics aren't the focus of this blog, y'know!

Well enough mucking around! Let's see how the Avengers and Spidey meet!

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Kinda crazy that Susan marries Reed a year after this. I wonder if they'll invite Spidey to the wedding or if he's gonna crash the party like he usually does.

But you what's known for crashing the party and everyone getting excited about it...?

YEEEEAAAAHHHHH BABY!

Let's get to it - I'm itching for more mail in letters!

Damn, Bob has some OPINIONS! Hindsight's a crazy little thing, because it seems like Susan Storm was asked to be booted from the FF a lot back in the day, but now she's arguably the most favored member other than the Thing!

Well how about this! A fan reacting to a fan's previous mail-in letter!

Since I'm reacting to Marvel editorial's reaction to Phil's letter, who reacted to Marvel's reaction to Larry's letter, who reacted to Marvel's title of the comic, that makes this a reaction to the FIFTH POWER! That's TOO MUCH ENERGY!!!! AAAUUAUAUUGHGHHGHGHH!!!!

Dang, this fan really spoke the idea of Spidey's mask being used to muffle his voice and disguise his identity into existence! I wonder who they are-

HE'S REAL?!?

A few of the letters have referenced how some fans were worried that Spidey wouldn't keep his hot streak going, but this one really stuck out to me because pretty much all of the things that he mentioned came true!

JJJ not hounding Spidey in the press anymore, Spidey joining the FF, Spidey getting more powers, and getting a female counterpart!

Are comic storylines just predictable or something? Because all of these fans are pretty much predicting the future with their letters, here!

It's also hilarious seeing how Ditko isn't a fan of drawing Spidey's under-arm webbing. If only he'd come back after Romita took over and removed them! He might've enjoyed drawing Spidey for longer!

Part of the reason I love reading the Spider's Web is because I get to put myself in the shoes of readers from back when these comics first came out! Just reading these two special announcements above got me excited to check out Spidey's next issue!

That's the magic of comics and definitely the magic of Spidey!

Progress: 15/4616

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Turns out that during Spidey's spur of the moment fight, the rest of the Fantastic Four were just... sitting on the beach?

They're in full uniform, too! And I don't see any Fantasti-car!

Is this just something these guys do? Hang out at the beach in superhero uniform?

Unfortunately, being fueled by furious teenager rage, Spidey proceeds to fight the Fantastic Four

AGAIN!

Like, JESUS, Pete - you do NOT need to be slugging it out with literally everyone who looks at you a little funny!!

Again, I love Spidey to death, but some of his choices in comics early on make him out to be pretty insufferable. No wonder most people think he's a menace!!

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After running outside to the beach, Spidey and Torch get into their scuffle, but not before Spidey busts out ANOTHER reference!

He does this a few times in the earlier comics, but whenever Spidey sings "He floats through the air with the greatest of ease," he's referencing a song called "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze".

The original song was recorded by Harry McClintock back in 1928, but since then has been re-recorded by a ton of different artist since then including Bing Crosby, Bruce Springsteen, and Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Apparently, it's also Cuphead's favorite song??

This sure is way more popular of a reference than I thought. I always figured it was Spidey being goofy and singing about whatever he was doing to mess with the person he's fighting.

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It's time for another Spidey Reference Check - this episode: Frank Merriwell!

So Frank Merriwell was a fictional character from the late 1800's written by a guy named Gilbert Patten (though his pseudonym for the books was Burt L. Standish. He appeared in short stories called dime novels, radio dramas, comic strips, comic books, and a 12 chapter serialized film.

He was around from 1896 to the late 1940's, disappeared for a bit, then came back for a short book series in 1965. Maybe Spidey's mention of him sparked some renewed interest!

From the little of the strips I checked out, Frank Merriwell stories read a little old-timey (which makes sense since they were coming out during the World Wars). Maybe the term "tossing you out on your pointy ear" is a classic phrase from the 20's?

Whatever the case, Spidey sure knows his fiction- he probably read Merriwell stories that Uncle Ben collected during his childhood to make this kind of a reference!

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I love Spider-Man, but if he threw a giant messy web-bat into my house and crashed my party, I'd want him to leave too.

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*microwave noises*

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15. The Amazing Spider-Man #8 (B Story)

Hey, all you beautiful people!

A lot sure has happened since the last post I made - most important is probably the new trailer for Brand New Day dropping earlier this month!

It's so refreshing to see Spidey coming back to theaters in a fresh and exciting new way. Hopefully the movie lives up to the hype!

Until then, we're gonna keep swinging along through the comics! Maybe we'll get to Scorpion's first encounter to tie into the movie!

Anyways, we're finishing up ASM #8 today with... another Spidey and Torch team up.

I've said it before and I'll probably keep saying it whenever it pops up, but these guys are spending a LOT of time sharing the pages. Out of his now 15 appearances, SEVEN of them have had the Human Torch show up.

That's basically HALF!!

No wonder they hate each other - they're tired of hanging out!

I know Peter is a 16 year old kid now, but him stalking another guys girlfriend just to show her what she's missing is some freak ass behavior. James Cameron must've only read this one page before he wrote his Spider-Man script back in the 90's.

So Johnny here is driving a 1963 Corvette Stingray, and the lady below says he was driving an "XK Jag" last week. I looked up both cars and I think I'd personally prefer the Jaguar, but what do y'all think?

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We end the issue with Flash unintentionally tripping and knocking out the goons who caused the Living Brain to go crazy.

Peter uses the opportunity to turn the tides on Flash and absolutely mess with the guy:

The funniest part is this is a totally plausible thing for the kids to believe, and they start questioning the shit out of Flash trying to get him to confirm his "true identity"

Man, what a shit-eating grin Peter has here - he's REVELLING in this!

And that's all for the A story! All ends well and nobody guesses Peter's identity! Huzzah!

This almost feels uncharacteristic for a Spider-Man adaptation to have nobody learn his secret identity this far in. Usually in movies, TV shows, or even other comic series, it seems like the writers can't wait to have someone find out Peter's identity!

Think about it - in SM1, Norman finds out and dies. SM2? MJ, Harry Osborn, and EVERYONE IN THAT TRAIN plus Doc Ock find out and Doc Ock dies. SM3, both Sandman and Venom find out and Venom dies. ASM1 Gwen Stacy, the Lizard, and Captain Stacy find out and both the Lizard and Captain Stacy DIE. Then in ASM2, while Electro never finds out, Harry Osborn does and kills Gwen Stacy, so SHE dies. Civil War, Iron Man finds out and eventually dies in Infinity War. In Homecoming both the Vulture and Aunt May find out. Aunt May dies a couple movies later, but the Vulture gets a fate worse than death and gets sent to the Morbius universe. Far From Home, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, the other SHIELD agents AND Mysterio find out and Mysterio doxxes Peter before HE dies. No Way Home, EVERYONE finds out about Peter being Spider-Man so that all the villains from the previous movies get brought in because they know Peter is Spider-Man (including Electro now?)

TLDR, Peter's identity as Spider-Man being kept a secret is really cool and I prefer it sticking around as long as possible instead of the beans getting spilled all the time to villains or love interests.

Next time, we'll be looking at the B story where Spidey and Torch go at it again for the 3rd time. Will they finally make up and be friends after the issue's over?

Spoiler Alert: nope!

Progress: 14/4616

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Along with THWUP, we've got THWAP added to the web slinging sound effect library!

Another thing I noticed, but we're getting A LOT more sound effects in these comics. They used to be few and far between and were usually written in basic fonts, but now they're growing larger and gaining color!

We've got THUD's and CRASH's - pretty soon we're gonna start getting ZAP and KABLOOEY! I'm so ready for more goofy sound effects!

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The art in this issue is some truly phenomenal work - Ditko keeps getting better and better with each issue!

These poses are starting to look much more like "Spider-Man" instead of generic action poses. I'm getting more and more eager to keep reading these knowing the evolution of the art keeps getting honed and improved upon!

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Actual footage of me training my Young Link amiibo in Smash Bros Ultimate

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Spidey saying it's impossible to break his web like it hasn't been broken by other villains or rendered completely useless by others...

Never change, Pete.